PDA / Mobile Device Version of the Site?

Questions and updates for http://www.railroadfan.com are posted here. If anyone has suggestions, either post here or email me at zack@railroadfan.com.
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TrainSpottingGR
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PDA / Mobile Device Version of the Site?

Unread post by TrainSpottingGR »

Just and idea that would be fun for those of us that travel with a PDA or mobile web equipped device. I have tried accessing it from my new 8525 and it does load OK, but since thee site is heavy on the graphics, it just tends to run slow and you have to do a lot of scrolling and such...

Just wondering if anyone else knows how to do this or is it even easy to consider?

Jamey

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~Z~
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Unread post by ~Z~ »

Hey Jamey,
I noticed a little while ago that you said you were online from down near Judd...were you on your PDA at that time? Wondering how the site looks/loads... I know I can get an RSS feed for the site if that's anything anyone is interested in, but haven't seen anything about getting the pages to load better for mobile users.
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TrainSpottingGR
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Posts: 42
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2006 2:45 am
Location: Elmhurst, IL
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Unread post by TrainSpottingGR »

Hey Zack

The site loads well and runs as fast as the "edge" network will allow it here in GR. The main issue is that the member icon pics and many of the graphics do not resize in proportion to the rest of the text and layout. Consequently a post this length ends up running down the screen with the need to scroll a lot to keep up, even with the screen sideways (lengthwise).

I am not sure if its possible to go into user settings and make a "text only" option that would minimize the number of graphics and icons. Also once that setting is made, how would the site distinguish between me logging in at home or on the mobile? I guess one possible option would be to create a separate login that would save those preferences, allowing for the mobile account to process less graphically intense data coming down.

Once the G3 network comes alive here in GR (slated for October) the site would run even faster over G3 equipped phones (of which the iPhone is not, despite being part of At&T). When I was in Chicago this last Sunday and running a lot of Goggle maps for Mobile phones, I was connecting to the G3 network and it was impressively fast. It still would not solve the problem of the over sized icons in comparison to the text and other parts of the screen, but overall that info would be coming through faster than it is presently.

Next time I see you and you're not worried about the police sitting nearby, I'll show you what the site looks like on the HTC8252. :-)

Take Care
Jamey

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